1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a door outer handle for a vehicle, and more particularly to a door opening prevention device for a vehicle door outer handle.
2. Background Art
A grip type door outer handle has been used in a vehicle door in recent years due to its excellent design and usability. It is, however, more easily pulled in the event of a broadside collision as compared to a lift up type handle. For this reason, a vehicle door having a grip type door outer handle can be more easily opened as compared to that having a lift up type handle.
FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a prior art door opening prevention device. A lever 2 is interlocked with a door outer handle. The lever 2 is mounted on a handle base 1 so that the door can be unlocked by the rotation of the lever 2. The door outer handle includes a spring 3 for providing a force to return the handle to an original position after operation.
The handle base 1 is provided with a separate control lever 4, which can elastically rotate back and forth depending on the direction of acceleration (impact) that can be applied by a collision. Further, a keyway 2a is formed on the shaft of the lever 2 so as to correspond to the both ends of the control lever 4. For this reason, control lever 4 can rotate depending on the direction of acceleration as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, so that the end of control lever 4 can be inserted and then locked in the keyway 2a. As a result, even when the handle is pulled due to inertia that takes place in the event of a collision, the lever 2 does not rotate, thereby preventing the door from being opened.
The above-described device has disadvantages, however. First, since the lever 2 is rotatably mounted on the handle base 1 by a lever pin 5, the depth of the keyway 2a formed on the shaft of the lever 2 is small. For this reason, the locking force between the control lever 4 and the keyway 2a is not sufficient. As a result, the control lever 4 can be easily separated from the keyway 2a, and the lever 2 can thus rotate, thereby causing the door to be opened. Second, since the control lever 4 is elastically rotated with regard to a portion where it is mounted on the handle base 1, the rotation path of the control lever 4 is irregular and unstable depending on the impact (acceleration). Third, since the control lever 4 is unstably mounted on the handle base 1, the control lever 4 can be easily separated from the handle base 1 when an impact is applied, which makes it hard to prevent the door from being opened.
There is thus a need for a new door opening prevention device that can overcome the above-described problems.